By Valerie Monson, Staff Writer, The Maui News

Aiming to put some muscle into affordable housing requirements that have long been sidestepped by developers, a Maui County Council committee approved new provisions that would force builders seeking a zoning change to complete affordable units in five years or forfeit a secured bond.

"This gives us a lot of teeth," said Council Member Joe Pontanilla, chairman of the Housing and Human Services Committee that passed the amendments quickly and with no qualms Monday afternoon.

If the full council adopts a resolution attached to the revisions, the proposed bill will go to all three planning commissions for public comment before returning to councilors for the final stamp.

Alice Lee, director of Housing and Human Concerns, has long pointed out that while many people complain that developers owe thousands of affordable units that were required as part of their market-priced projects, very few do fulfill their obligations. That's because of a loophole in the law that permits affordables to be constructed after the rest of the project has been built out. Since many of those projects don't ever get completely built, the developers technically owe nothing even if they had agreed to put up 10 percent of lower-cost housing.

The new provisions would shore up that escape hatch and go even further in guaranteeing that affordables are part of future projects of developers who need a change in zoning. The major clauses would have developers:

Build the required number of affordable units concurrently with the market-priced units.

Complete the affordable component within five years of the change in zoning regardless of whether the market-priced segment has been finished.

Give the county a predetermined lump sum of cash and/or a performance bond, which will be refunded upon completion of the affordable homes. If the houses are not built according to conditions imposed, the county will keep the deposit.

Submit semiannual reports to the council.

After the meeting, Pontanilla said the amount of the obligation bond would be determined by the Housing and Human Concerns Department after consulting with the developer. That figure must be approved by the council.

"It's like a guarantee," said Pontanilla. "If he builds (what's required), he gets his money back. If he reneges, the county (will keep it)."

Although affordable housing has become the hottest issue around, there was little public testimony. Only a few developers attended - and none spoke.

Jeff Kuwada, coordinator of the Maui Nui Housing Task Force, said the community has a lot of questions about units owed by developers. Kuwada said the changes to the bill would "promote public confidence" in the process.

Lee began the meeting with an overview of the administration's priorities to reduce the housing crisis and then reviewed a list of potential projects, a presentation very similar to what she gave to the housing task force less than two weeks ago.

One new figure, however, jumped out among the sobering statistics that underlined the growing number of second homes on Maui while the market within reach of most local residents suffers. According to a Hawaii Housing Policy study conducted by SMS Inc. last year (and paid for by the state and counties), 6.2 percent of Hawaii's housing stock was in "seasonal units" - second homes or vacation rentals. On Maui, however, that figure was more than double, 17.3 percent, by far the highest in the islands.

"Statewide, Hawaii's level of second homes may be approaching that in markets where second homes are common; Maui has already reached this point," the report said.

In Florida, another popular location for part-time residents, the number of seasonal units was 7.5 percent.

Lee agreed with the study's evaluation on that point.

"Vacation rentals and second homes are having a devastating effect on the market," she said.

Lee also encouraged the committee to consider a new tax category for time-share structures. She said since one unit can be sold 52 times, "they should be taxed accordingly" instead of being treated like hotels.

Brian Miskae, the county's new affordable housing coordinator, explained his role and said he was planning to meet soon with a group pulled together by the Maui Contractors Association to talk about the stumbling blocks in the permitting process.